An Open Meadow
by Michiko Mokuyaba
Summary: Sango, I love you...There was no other way to interpret these words. There was no way to allow herself to believe they meant something other than what they intended to mean. InuYasha loved her. But... Why? How? It was time for answers
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: if wishes were fishes I'd have a lot of owning-InuYasha-sushi. But they aren't._

_**(AN: Before reading this, read SANGO'S CHOICE, it will make more sense that way, since this is a prequel.)**_

Sango, I love you...

_There was no other way to interpret these words. There was no way to allow herself to believe they meant something other than what they intended to mean. InuYasha loved her. But... Why? How?_

_Well, answers were in order…_

…

…

…

Two months. It had been too long. While InuYasha's usual stubbornness held him this long, he could go no longer. It was intolerable! Kagome's brash, quick to take offence nature had once again led them into a fight. It wasn't what _he_ wanted, but then, when did she care what _he_ wanted when there was something else _she_ only idly fancied that contradicted him?

It hadn't even been a very impressive fight. It was just their usual fight continued. Somehow he'd apparently called her useless, and she'd taken an amazing amount of offence at something he didn't even realize was there, and then threatened to go home. Well, that wasn't so bad to begin with, but had he not tried to stop her, and begged her – or at least as close to begging as his pride would allow – to stay, then she wouldn't have screamed the evil word as forcefully as she could, as many times as she could, surely getting a severely sore throat the next day. 'Sit'. How many times had she screamed it? Seventeen!! She'd screamed it until he could no longer stay conscious! Miroku had regaled him with the details that passed after he was 'no longer with them'.

He stared angrily at the well, trying to re-convince himself that he didn't want to be the one to apologize. He was failing. This was the longest since he'd known her that they'd been apart, and he felt, for lack of a better word, homesick. He was no longer even denying it, even to Shippo, who's inquisitive nature would not allow him to stop until he got the answer he knew was right, but didn't expect. InuYasha had sat there, motionless, for at least an hour now, still fighting the inner monologue. Miroku and Sango were now no longer simply concerned; they were quite near the point of going through the well themselves to get Kagome back and end InuYasha's terrible episode. Watching his melancholy form from a ways off, then were holding a hushed conversation, hoping that InuYasha would not hear.

"Monk, Are you sure that he'll be okay _still_? I know I'm convinced that his disposition is no longer of a simply angry sort."

"I suppose I'm beginning to agree with you, Lady Sango. I will speak with him; it _is_ my turn, I suppose." He said with a sigh. He stood up and walked to the young half demon.

"InuYasha?" He inquired first; to make sure he was not in a comatose state. InuYasha's ear flicked, which at this point was nearly a graceful and kind greeting, since Miroku wasn't actually sure if he'd spoken in the last couple of days. "InuYasha, you're in a very sorry state. You really must go apologize to Kagome. I've never seen you so low!" At this, InuYasha's ear twitched again, then his head turned slightly so that his amber eyes could glimpse Miroku. He said nothing.

"Truly, InuYasha! You mustn't stay this way! Your spirits are even affecting Shippo!" So what if it wasn't that true, reasoned Miroku. Out of surprise that it actually worked, Miroku jumped back when InuYasha stood.

"You're right," he said, taking a slow step forward. Miroku's expression could not be reproduced.

"I…Wha…?" He said stupidly, since he'd lost the eloquent speech he usually relied on.

"Even if I don't believe it, Kagome has to come back, I know you're gonna tell me that, and I also know you're right." Said InuYasha. Miroku's expression only became less realistic. He hadn't realized that under the angry persona InuYasha actually heard what Miroku had said all those times he'd counseled him to go fetch Kagome, nor did he realized that InuYasha could actually read him well enough to know what his exact words were going to be. Recomposing himself, Miroku nodded, though didn't dare try speaking again for fear of cognitive failure. He tried, and didn't know if he'd succeeded or not, in making it look like a 'thank you', or a wise, knowing nod. He was pretty sure he couldn't have managed the latter, though.

InuYasha walked on… Miroku was sure that any moment he would turn around and yell, "No, she was the one that was wrong! I refuse to give in!" Or something of the like, but he only hesitated once, then continued into the well. With a slightly purple flash, he was gone.

After a few moments, standing there with the dumb look on his face, he heard Sango burst out laughing. This startled him back into reality.

"What?" He demanded, still not remembering how to speak with way he normally did. Between giggles Sango managed to say,

"Your expression…" and then lapsed into even heavier laughter.

…

Kagome, I'm sorry. I don't know what I did, but… No, that wasn't right.

He'd come here, knowing what to say, how to say it, how she'd react, and that he wanted her to come back, but now he didn't know even _why _he was here for sure. He was still at the bottom of the well, still immobile. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there. He was working himself up to getting out, and he was just about to, when…

"Yeah, I know. This is my place to just… Be. I just come here to collect myself." There was a pause. "No, I'm in the well house, silly," said the voice, with a girlish giggle. InuYasha had never heard her so… Happy. She was just chatting with someone else, whom he couldn't hear, but Kagome was happy. She didn't sound stressed, or worried at all. She was just herself. Her happy-self. The self she was before… before him.

"Yeah, okay. Okay, bye, love you lots!" Said Kagome to this other person. He heard a small 'beep', followed by a happy sigh. He heard the well door open, and jumped out.

Kagome was dressed as she always was; in her uniform. She smelled as good as she always did, and looked the same as she did when she left. The sight, smell and sound of her, the whole experience of her, was intoxicating after this long. He felt his stomach relax, and suddenly so many of his anxieties melted off him so easily.

"Kagome…" He said hoarsely. Kagome turned around faster than he'd ever seen her move. She looked at him, and her expression of alarm didn't change. She said nothing. "Kagome," he said again, a bit disappointed by her reaction. "I've come…" He gritted his teeth. "I've come to apologize. We need you, and we haven't been able to do anything without you. But most of all…" He trailed off. What he wanted to say was, 'but most of all, _I_ need you, and miss you,' but her expression was not that of someone who even wanted to hear that a little. And he didn't really want to have to say it.

"How… How _dare_ you!?" Kagome demanded. InuYasha took a very small step back, entirely confused, and he felt a strange twinge in his chest. "You come back, after two months without me, and then expect me to say, 'Hey, thanks! I'll come help you look for some stupid, demonic jewel in a place I _hate_ with people I haven't needed in two months! Yeah, that's a _great_ idea!'?"

InuYasha felt his ears lower on the back of his head, knowing his expression was heartbroken, and he found he couldn't do anything about it.

"Screw that!" Kagome cried, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I've had it with you! I don't want to be there anymore!" She was shaking in rage now. She continued, nearly breathless. "You treated me like a pebble in your shoe, and now you want me back? No!" She said just before storming off.

InuYasha reached out a hand for her, but didn't dare move from this spot. Somehow it felt like if he didn't move, then this couldn't have been real. If he just stayed perfectly still, then maybe he could still wake up to find out it was just a dream…

The twinge was now much worse than anything he'd felt before. It felt like he was being stabbed – And he knew how much that hurt – but it felt worse. Kagome didn't want to be with him? How… Why? When did it happen? And why? How could she… Why would she want to hurt him this much…? He felt his eyes watering, and he even felt tears come out of his eyes. He realized now that he'd collapsed, and was sitting against the well, crying. He couldn't move, and he felt the pain in his chest sent a vague stinging sensation to his stomach. He looked up at the well house ceiling, his vision blurred severely, and howled quietly, since his throat had closed up far beyond allowing him to speak any louder.

He cried there for who knows how long. It had felt like days before he could stand, but he was sure in the front of his mind that it was no more than an hour. He lurched into the well again, tripping rather than hopping, and cried a bit more once he got to the bottom.

…

Miroku was pacing. He was almost a frantic as InuYasha had been in the first few days of Kagome's absence. He was biting his finger, so deep in thought that he didn't notice Shippo sitting on the well, watching him.

"Miroku," said Shippo suddenly, startling the monk. "Would you stop that? You're making me dizzy…" He finished. Miroku did so. After a moment he bent down so he was eye level with the little fox.

"Are you worried about them?" He inquired. Shippo nodded slightly.

"Yeah, but I don't think they'll get hurt, or anythin', I mean, she's got InuYasha with her, so what could happen?"

"Well," said Miroku in response. "I was more worried about their emotions. I'm not too terribly frightened of them being attacked." Shippo looked confused.

"Whadda'ya mean? They're in love, what could happen?" He said. Miroku covered his eyes.

"If this fight was terrible enough to both of them to cause a two month absence on Kagome's part, perhaps it is too deep a wound to be bandaged this way?" Said Miroku. Shippo seemed to think this over, and when about to respond he paused, and then sniffed.

"'NuYasha?" He asked, looking over the edge of the well. The Hanyou had been there a little while now, his hair thrown askew, leaning, head back, against the corner of the well, sobbing softly. Miroku and Shippo exchanged glances, and Shippo dashed off to get Sango. Miroku took another long look at InuYasha. He was surprised, but he was nearly positive he knew what happened. InuYasha made a choking noise or two, then said, "Don't… Don't tell any… Anyone…" between more of these noises. Miroku truly felt pity for the boy. He didn't really know what to tell him. He climbed gingerly down into the well and sat down next to InuYasha for a moment.

"InuYasha, what happened?" he asked, as if that would console InuYasha. InuYasha simply turned his head to see him, jolting with tears, and attempted an expression that could have been a 'fuck off,' or a, 'fuck off, you idiot,' but the effect was ruined by the tears, the reddened eyes, and of course, the quick, indrawn breaths that caused him to not hold still as he would have normally. He let out a howl of pain, then folded up into his own lap, sobbing yet further. Miroku wasn't sure how to calm him. Had it been Kagome he would have goaded her into some form of anger, then she would have felt a good deal better after hitting him, but not only did Miroku not want to touch the boy's butt, he also didn't want to be hit by him. Miroku, instead, started in on the subject of food in a vain attempt to quiet him. However, he'd mentioned potato chips on accident, which triggered InuYasha to lapse into hopelessness again.

…

Miroku had convinced Sango that things were fine, and they'd send word as soon as Kagome got back, but until then she should find clues of the whereabouts of the jewel shards. This had kept her away from the crying InuYasha for now at least. A week passed. He didn't know what to do at all. For the time being he was keeping Shippo away from InuYasha, and trying to convince the little demon that he didn't see InuYasha crying, only injured, and it was fine. Another week passed before InuYasha got back his former hot-tempered nature. He was recovering, but he had a twinge every time Kagome was remembered. Miroku was painfully, patently trying to keep him in good spirits, though he wasn't sure he really wanted the old, disagreeable InuYasha back.

Another week passed, InuYasha was entirely fine as near as Miroku could tell. Granted, he would take long walks on his own, and he nearly ignored Shippo, rather than getting in a fearsomely distasteful state. Miroku did all in his power to shield InuYasha, proving that, indeed, he was a friend.

"Miroku," Said Shippo one day. "InuYasha keeps ignoring me." There was a slightly disappointed expression on Shippo's face. Miroku allowed to his own surprise at this.

"You actually like it when InuYasha gets frustrated and hurts you without good cause?" asked Miroku. Shippo shrugged.

"Well, I like it better than he is now. And I want Kagome to come back, too. I miss her…" said the little fox sadly. Miroku tried an encouraging smile.

"She will come back, Shippo, fear not."

…

Meanwhile, not all that far off, InuYasha was taking a walk. He was allowing himself a small smile. Even with this pain, this grief Kagome caused him he found, strangely, that he was better for it. He was no longer as angry – or so he thought – And he could admit that he, himself, needed time to step back and put things together. He took walks for this very reason, and allowing to himself that it was good for him. He'd be back in his normal swing – with or without Kagome – eventually.

We was feeling dreadful, and he could have sworn he felt his heart _bleeding_, but he could feel himself healing. There would be a scar left behind, but that's bound to happen when you let someone in, and they want to claw their way out.

His walk had carried him to a place it carried him often; to the well. He stared at for a moment, then smiled. He had memories. He wouldn't allow this to get in the way of the Jewel hunt. No matter how much it hurt. He recovered fast, even from this.

He sat down by the base of a tree, and simply stared at it. The little bit of constriction, so simple, so boring, and yet it had been something he looked to when he was waiting for Kagome to come and be with him. It had been like a little dispenser of joy, at times, and at other times it had been a barrier between him and Kagome, something that was there, as if it was always giving her a way out, in case… In case she didn't want to see him.

He winced at the last thought. Not wanting to see him. That was what had caused this pain, he thought. That was why he was here now, brooding all alone, nursing pain that he would never admit to being a broken heart. He came here often to try and find the missing pieces to his heart, but he knew where most of it was… And he knew it wasn't going to be so easy as just getting them back – No, he had to re-grow the biggest pieces. The pieces he's left with _her_.

There was a wisp of purple smoke from the well, followed by coughing. InuYasha's ears perked, and he desperately hoped that it wasn't what he though it was. Perhaps he didn't heal as fast as he thought he did…

He saw her hands… They pulled her up, as the always did, in the same nearly graceful manner that she always did.

He was strangled by fear, unable to breath. His heartbeat quickened. He undoubtedly did _not_ want to be seen. Not at all. His keen eyes searched for some exit strategy while he tried to dislodge his mind from its previous track to help his eyes with a plan.

There was another cough, and Kagome's hair appeared in his view. Her silky, raven hair, that many times he'd smelled, the scent playing with him, and grappling him deeply into a state of thrall.

His mind refused to help beyond one suggestion: Hide. He leapt into a tree, scurrying into a spot that would provide more cover, hoping that she wouldn't expect him to have done that.

Kagome was entirely out of the well now, dusting herself off, as she always did. The clouds of dust carrying the scent of her perfume to him, making his senses go crazy. Even when he was human, when she wore those scents it was like drowning in her… And she just _had_ to wear that now, did she?

She looked around. Riffling through her bag, she pulled out a bag of potato chips, then stared at them mournfully. Though he was in no position to tell, InuYasha might have said afterwards that he saw a tear slide promptly down her cheek before she smeared it, and put the chips back away. She stood up calmly, and slowly, as if debating with herself, and daring herself to go back. She began toward the village. She'd only gotten a few steps when she was right under him. She turned, and looked back at the well.

InuYasha quieted his breathing as much as he could. He closed his eyes, willing himself to wake from some kind of nightmare. Begging it to be a hallucination. pleading this to be some kind of mental condition, rather than the real Kagome. He heard his own heartbeat, and felt it in his throat, obstructing any breathing he was trying to do anyway. He felt like his rapid pulse was going to make him explode. Her entertained the idea, which at the moment seemed less painful than facing Kagome. The girl stood there for quite some time before she looked up.

"InuYasha, please come down…" she said quietly, but she knew he could hear her. Biting back a howl of pain, or a death threat that was threatening to be blurted out, he did so, not at all enthusiastic of the prospect of having to say even one word. Her scent, now that he was closer, was off… There was something _wrong _about it, and InuYasha couldn't quite pinpoint it. Kagome looked at him miserably for a while before she spoke again.

"InuYasha…" she began, her voice choked by tears. "You came to me to apologize… And I totally didn't hear you out. I totally didn't think you were worth it. I… I want to apologize back, and make it up to you, though I know that won't be easy." She said, holding her hands tightly together in front of her. Her chin was against her neck, as if she couldn't work up to looking at him. InuYasha stared at her, her scent still somehow… Wrong.

"I…" he began. I love you, Kagome, even if you hurt me, I want you back, I want to start over, I want to make you happy. That's what I want to say, but I don't know if I mean it anymore, He thought. "I need to think," he said instead, shaking his head and walking away hastily. He could feel his temper rising, but he was doing his best to keep it in check.

"InuYasha!" He heard from behind him, though he walked on, ignoring it. He didn't want to answer. He didn't want to say anything to her. She'd _hurt_ him, worse than anything he'd known. He'd known what it felt like to die, and be suspended in death for fifty goddamn years, and _still_ this had hurt more. She couldn't just expect him to be _over_ it, could she? He was going to walk, then he would give his answer, which he was pretty sure would be the one he'd wanted to say before, but he wanted to be sure.

"InuYasha!" She said again, walking after him. He quickened his pace to a run. Handling her right now would be more than impossible. It wouldn't happen. He wanted more than anything else, no matter what he felt for her, and no matter how much he wanted to give into his love for her, he wanted to cause her the same kind of pain she'd caused him. He wanted to claw her, to maim her, and to _hurt_ her. But instead, he would settle for sorting out his own feelings and attempting to want to _like_ her first, because he'd forgotten how.

"InuYasha!" She was running after him now, at a speed quicker than he knew she could run. He closed his eyes and tightened his fists - which were already quite tight - fighting the instincts he'd trained himself for to save her from any ill, and broke into a sprint. She'd become something he associated with pain, now, and he didn't know how to fix that yet. He wanted to, but he needed to think first. He needed to let her apology sink through. He needed to let himself remember why he loved her, then it would be simple, but first, he needed to _like_ her. Then he would love her, and he could actually let her know.

"InuYasha!" She said from quite far back now. "_SIT!_"

…

When InuYasha woke up he was underground, and there was water dripping onto his forehead. It was a steady drip, the kind that one might often associate with the passage of time, or perhaps the rhythm of a band before the instruments of overlaid. He opened his eyes to the dank lighting, and saw nothing but a white light overhead.

"InuYasha!" was called from overhead, though the sound had decayed to the point of it being just a wondering echo finding its way into his ear. He opened his mouth to respond, but ended up coughing instead. He turned onto his side until the coughing subsided.

"InuYasha!?" the voice called again, this time louder, and more hopeful. "InuYasha, are you down there?"

"Kagome?" he said, after his fit had ceased.

"Oh, god, InuYasha! I thought I'd lost you!" answered the voice. He was certain it was Kagome now. There was a faint jab as she'd said those words. 'I thought I'd lost you'… They weren't what had happened. 'I thought I'd killed you' was better of the given circumstances.

"Don't think something so stupid. As if a fall like this could kill me!" he snapped back, ignoring the pain of his body, and mind alike. As he sat up fire shot through his arm, sending him right back to the ground. Damn, it was definitely broken. Must've been some fall, he mused. As he looked back up, this time from a standing position, he could see that the opening was about a hundred feet up, and scarcely larger than he was. He also saw Kagome's face peering over it.

The cavern he was in was hardly larger than a closet, and it got narrower as it neared the top. It looked safe enough to be at the edge of it, as Kagome was; there was little risk of the ground giving way if there were more ground under it. He'd have to climb, but that wasn't going to be easy with a broken arm. Grimacing at it, he toyed with the though of staying down there for two days to let it heal, and let him have time to think about Kagome, but he really didn't like it down there. It was so small that if he had then it would be already filled to the gills with his own defecation. No, that idea was right out, no matter how tempting it may have otherwise been.

"InuYasha, I'll go get help!" called Kagome. InuYasha growled at her.

"How long have I been down here?" he snapped. Perhaps it wasn't as long as he thought. There was a painful amount of lag time between his call and her answer, and for a moment he thought she'd left.

"About two hours!" she called back.

"Two hours, and you haven't gotten help yet?!" He yelled back, outrage filling his words. The lag once again ensued, as often these things do, when echoes are concerned. It shouldn't have been lagging, or echoing _this _much at this distance, should it?

"Well, no!" no, no, no. InuYasha growled again, but decided to let her go get the help she should have gotten immediately. Why did she feel it necessary to stay there, yelling at him for two hours? It probably would have taken about two hours for her to get to town, bring enough people back, come up with a reasonable plan and execute it. She'd just robbed him of two hours of his life! Idiocy.

"Okay, I'm gonna go now!" yelled Kagome after another minute. InuYasha glared back up at her.

"Why the hell aren't you gone yet!? You should have left when I didn't answer!" he yelled. He heard the intermingled echoes, causing his words to be unintelligible. He watched as Kagome turned her head to listen, rather than leaving, as she should have done many times now.

"What?" she asked after a long lag. InuYasha yanked at some of his hair in frustration.

"GO!" he roared at her. He watched as her face didn't leave until she'd received the order. After her face was gone, he sat back down, and glanced at his arm. Yep, definitely broken. With the angle it was hanging at it made it look like he had two elbows.

"That, my friends, is a broken arm," he said, preparing to set the bone.

The blood chilling snap echoed evermore inside the enclosed space, followed by the wounded howl, and with every single repetition of the sounds he relived the pain.

…

Miroku sighed, and put down the rules. Kagome had brought the game home from her time about three months ago, and he _still_ couldn't understand the mysterious 'Chi-su'.

"Miroku! Miroku-Sama! Sango-Chan!" screamed a girl off in the crowd. Miroku scarcely would have taken notice in his otherwise occupied state had this person not called his name. He looked up for a moment.

"Somebody!" her voice was raised to penetrate the din.

"Lady Kagome!" he called back, finally realizing who was talking. "Lady Kagome, what's wrong?" he asked. Kagome paused in front of him and bent over double, gasping for air.

"Inu…" she breathed. "Fell down… Inna hole!" she said.

"Inu… InuYasha?" he asked. Kagome nodded vigorously. "InuYasha fell… _into_ a hole?" She nodded again. "I'll get help and send them to the outskirts. You must lead them back, Lady Kagome!" he told her, quickly turning to find anyone able bodied enough, and a good length of rope. It baffled him, however, to think of InuYasha just _falling_ down a hole. Had something attacked? Unlikely, for if it had, would it let Kagome get away?

His thoughts halted as he remembered something. Kagome was _back_! She hadn't been here for almost three months, and for that period InuYasha had been distressed enough that perhaps her return would distract him enough to be clumsy? Well, he didn't know, as yet, what had passed between the two, nor did that matter for the task at hand.

After the men were gathered he headed for the very outskirts that he had send them all to with a length of rope. He saw the tail end of the party, and joined it, rushing up ahead to get there faster, since he carried a very necessary piece in the rescue.

…

InuYasha opened his eyes.

Drip.

He looked around, to find that he was still in the same place. The light outside had grown faint, and he couldn't see anything in the cavern. However now he was beginning to realize something; there was blood all around him. _His_ blood! In the excitement he hadn't known that he was injured, and now he was so numb from the cold that he couldn't figure it out without light; a commodity he was fresh out of at that moment.

Drip.

If he had to hazard a guess, he'd say about two more hours had passed. He didn't _remember_ going to sleep, so he assumed that perhaps it was a head wound. Oh, of all the things that he had to deal with at that moment, why a broken arm and a head wound on top of them? He took only minor consolation in the thought that maybe it wasn't his head. He was too numb to know the difference, and even if he wasn't, he didn't remember any concussion. So he didn't have one, right? He assumed you'd remember a concussion if you got one; they were very memorable, after all.

Drip.

He was now assured that it was a head wound, and a severe one at that, to trigger such a line of thought. Remember a concussion? That had to be one of the stupidest things he'd ever heard of.

Drip.

Perhaps it wasn't so bad being down here, he thought. After all, it gave him the time he'd wanted away from 'My Lady Defensive' up there, and there wasn't anything more pressing than this he needed to do anyway. It wasn't hot down here, as it would have been everywhere else. In fact, it was pleasantly refreshing, and surprisingly dry, rather than humid, even with the incessant drip.

Drip.

His head swam as he tried to stand up. He let out a groan, and decided that sitting, leaning against a wall was a much better employment than standing, especially if standing was likely to make him faint. How much blood had he _lost_, to make him so weakened?

Drip.

This was going to be a long wait.

Drip.

Definitely a long wait.

Drip.

Still waiting.

Drip.

"InuYasha!" InuYasha's ears homed in on the sound.

"Miroku, izzat you?" he yelled back, his mouth painfully dry.

"Yes! Lady Kagome sent for us!" yelled the Monk after the lag. "How did you manage to fall down a hole?!" InuYasha growled.

"Some _idiot_ girl happened to say the magic word _right_ over a weak spot, and drove me down here!" he said, in short bursts so that the echoes wouldn't drive all intelligibility out of his words.

The ground smacked him. After a moment he heard,

"Sit!" Damn that lag time…

Drip.

"Hey!" he screamed back. "You got me in here, don't cheat!"

"We're sending down a rope!" said Miroku, after the obligatory lag, which is no longer going to be mentioned. "Can you climb up?"

"No, but I could tie off and be hauled!" InuYasha answered. He really didn't think he could climb one-armed…

Drip.

He saw Miroku's head turn to share council with some of the men there – Or, the men he assumed were there, since he could only see Miroku and Kagome's faces.

Drip.

After a moment he turned back, and answered InuYasha's prayers.

"We can haul you up! Hold on!" yelled the Monk. InuYasha collapsed with relief.

"Thank god!" he said, more to himself than the others, even though he yelled it.

Drip.

Silence was broken only by the drip that was as accurate as clockwork.

Drip.

Something touched his face, causing him to jump. He nearly attacked it before he remembered that he was expecting a rope. He grinned with delight and relief, and snagged the rope, pulling once on it so the others would know he now had it. It stopped lowering. After a moment of struggling he managed to tie himself with one hand.

Drip.

He pulled the rope again, and it began to rise.

Drip.

Drip.

InuYasha sighed. He wished that there was some way to skip time, but he would just have to live with the speed of 3 inches per minute.

…

Miroku sighed. They'd turned this into shifts, and it currently wasn't his. He'd never seen one hundred feet be this long before.

He looked back to Kagome, who was franticly looking into the hole. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and took a swig of water, preparing for his turn to heave the rope some more.

"Lady Kagome, I'm sure he'll be all right," said Miroku, reassuringly. Kagome looked up at him worriedly, then she smiled.

"I know," she told him. "But it's just… He was running away from me when this happened…" she said quietly. Miroku was surprised at this, though he refused to let it show on his face.

"Why do you think he did that, Lady Kagome?" he asked. Kagome shrugged.

"I don't know," she said, more sure of herself in this sentence. Miroku frowned. InuYasha was as emotionally numb as a log in a warren. Certainly she'd done something to hurt him, and it couldn't be the sort of thing that could be overlooked so easily. After all, this was InuYasha; he of the thick skin! There was something more, something that Miroku wasn't being told.

A hand grabbed the ledge of the hole, and Miroku quickly dropped the subject he'd been interested in to help the young Hanyou out of his predicament. He grabbed the clawed hand, pulling InuYasha back up.

InuYasha coughed heavily. Miroku looked at him critically. The boy before him was covered in blood; his hair was matted, and was the red color that could only be blood. How much had InuYasha bled?

After the spasm subsided he collapsed on the ground, very purposefully landing on his back with his right arm draped over his chest. Miroku looked at InuYasha's head.

"InuYasha, can you walk? We need to get you to Kaede's for treatment," he told the younger boy. InuYasha nodded weakly, and dragged himself to his feet. He wasn't walking very well; swaying terribly, in fact, so Miroku offered his shoulder out for InuYasha to be carried by, but he didn't seem to notice. Miroku frowned, and grabbed his arm. At this, InuYasha let out a strangled cry and collapsed back on the ground.

"InuYasha!" Kagome screamed from behind them, rushing up to InuYasha's aid. Miroku had never seen so ungrateful a reception of Kagome on InuYasha's part. The boy looked at her briefly, then stood back up, shrugging her off every time she touched him even a little.

"It's broken," InuYasha told Miroku flatly. Miroku tried his best not to look too sympathetic, lest InuYasha take that as an insult, but he was aware that it showed on his face. Miroku had never in all the time they traveled together, seen InuYasha so _crippled_ as this. By the end of the walk Miroku had InuYasha's arm over his shoulder and was supporting him on their way back. What _had_ happened? Surely a hundred foot fall wasn't enough to do this kind of damage. There was something more than what had been told…

Miroku looked at the sky. The stars were remarkably bright tonight, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. The sun had just set, leaving a pink and orange mark where it had exited from in brilliant color. The other side of the sky was already dark, and past twilight. InuYasha groaned.

Miroku looked back to his companion, who had suddenly given up all pretences of walking, was quite instantly got a lot heavier, nearly causing Miroku to loose balance. There was a soft glow around InuYasha, and a faint – very faint – humming sound as each strand of InuYasha's hair seemed to fill with black, and his ears disappeared. His claws turned into nothing but dull, ill taken care of nails. He was human, and weak.

Miroku – had he been anyone else – would have panicked, but that wasn't in his nature. Instead, he quickened his pace to get to Kaede's. InuYasha the Hanyou could survive worse than a head wound, concussion, and a broken arm, but a _human_ InuYasha, and suddenly the prospect of an infection became much more frightening, and sadly, much more likely. Had there only been someone among them who knew something about medicine they could have delayed any ill-effects for the trip, but no, all these men were farmers or carpenters, not doctors. None of them knew how to make a poultice, or a bandage out of a plant, and Miroku didn't know enough to be of use either.

"Kagome, do you have any bandages with you?" he asked. Kagome shook her head hurriedly.

"I… I'm out of gauze, and even if I had it, I dropped it to follow InuYasha, and I don't know where it is now!"

"…By the… well, m'ron…" murmured InuYasha quietly. It was lucky for him that Kagome didn't hear it.

"InuYasha says they're by the well," Miroku translated. Kagome's brow wrinkled.

"That doesn't matter… My first aid kit is out of anything that could help us for this!" she wailed. Miroku quickened his pace yet again. It didn't matter if he was tired right now; it mattered if InuYasha survived the night. That was the all-important factor, and right now it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

…

Miroku was thankful that the other men were there, and had been able to fabricate a stretcher with which to carry InuYasha faster. Nevertheless, the journey to the village was brutal. If only it was an hour earlier, and maybe then he could have gotten himself home and in pretty good shape before his human transformation. But as it was, there had been no way of preventing this that Miroku knew of, and he felt sure that if there had been any way to shield InuYasha from danger, Kagome would have chosen that course of action.

Miroku remembered his tension, and the feeling of sheer helplessness as IunYasha was transmitted to the village. The hours seemed to change like seasons would, and it was a two hour walk at the present pace. Increasing the pace would only risk InuYasha's heath further than necessary, and Miroku would not have that. Already they were jarring InuYasha's previously wounded head, and that was doing him no good at all, they were tousling his previously broken arm, and that _certainly_ wasn't good for it. There was no way to get there fast enough and safe enough to preserve all his heath.

Miroku sighed. On a two hour walk, with only his own anxiety as a companion, he was going to be a mess after this.

…

Miroku was overjoyed at the sight of the village at last. He quickly instructed the men to take him _directly_ to Kaede's home, and wake her, if necessary. As soon as he was no longer needed to be the brains of the party – which they had otherwise lacked – he relaxed. There was nothing more Miroku could do for his friend.

A villager came running up to him swiftly.

"Lord Monk! Taijia Sama is this night returned! She waits for you at the tavern," said the man. Miroku grimaced. It would be a painful office to regale Sango with the effects of the evening, and he didn't want to do it, but she would be better informed. He started toward the hostelry to enlighten her.

When he got to his destination he didn't have to look hard for Sango. She was sitting at the bar, sipping some sake, and looking generally happy. Her hair was down, falling lazily, and artfully over her shoulders, and she seemed to glow with an air of satisfaction.

"Houshi Sama!" she greeted him cheerfully, motioning for the publican to hand him some sake too. Miroku couldn't refuse that offer; he needed to loosen up a bit. He closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. When he opened his eyes he saw Sango looking at him, no longer with an air of contented fulfillment, but with worry evident in her features, and slight puzzlement.

"Lady Sango," he began in a low tone. "InuYasha has, this night, been injured severely."

"How badly?" she asked, putting down her cup.

"A deep gash on the head, and a broken arm, so far as we know at the current time. It could be worse than we know," he said. Upon seeing her unimpressed expression he added, "tonight he is no more than a human, and we fear his chances." At this Sango was impressed, and certainly vexed. She opened her mouth, but Miroku continued to stop her. "We have just given Kaede Sama his charge, and await her findings," he said to her. Sango nodded.

"Did anything else happen in my absence?" she asked shakily.

"Nothing of note. Oh, actually, Lady Kagome is this night returned. I had forgotten in all the excitement."

"She has?" asked Sango, cheering up only slightly. "InuYasha will be very pleased of it when he is recovered," said Sango, putting extra emphasis on the _when,_ as if to assure herself that it wasn't a case of 'if'.

"He knows already, I believe," said Miroku. "She was with him when he fell," he said. Sango looked into her cup for a moment before looking back up.

"How did he acquire these injuries?" she asked eventually.

"I did not have the opportunity for a full investigation, thus, all I know of the incident is that InuYasha fell down a chasm."

"How far down?" she asked, taking a sip. Miroku knew her concerns were not simply for him; a cavern of the sort that could harm InuYasha generally were not solitary instances.

"One hundred feet, nearly," he assured her. There was a clang as Sango rammed her cup back onto the bar, and it startled the other patrons slightly, but was ignored afterwards.

"A hundred foot chasm couldn't InuYasha – even near his transformation – with wounds so severe!" she hissed. "There is something I haven't been told," she said darkly.

"Aye," said Miroku, nodding sagely. "I am afraid I've been told that, and that is all I know. We will find out the true nature of the event from Lady Kagome as soon as she is recovered from her scare," he promised. Sango smiled at him as warmly as she could manage.

"I will hold you to that, Houshi Sama," she said, drinking her sake again. Miroku took a sip of his as she watched her countenance. She was distressed, he gathered, but she was satisfied by other things. Well, one clearly had to be his presence, and another was Kagome's return.

"Lady Sango, what learnt you on your travels?" he asked. Sango's eyes widened, and she put her cup down.

"Oh! I had forgotten," she said, a blush of embarrassment spread over her cheeks. "I have received intelligence of Naraku's whereabouts!" she told him.

…

Somehow, those words didn't have the same effect on Kagome. While Miroku had set off into a fit of triumphant giggles, and started to drink sake to an extent that worried the bartender, Kagome had just sat there. She'd sighed, then looked back at Kaede's hut. Clearly her thoughts were on InuYasha, and could be nowhere else.

"Lady Kagome," said Miroku, calmly. "There must be more than InuYasha's well being bothering you," he said. Kagome smiled up at him.

"Well, yeah, there is. See, I have this math test…" she began, sheepishly. Miroku froze, and could listen no longer. He prayed in his mind that she was actually just genuinely worried about InuYasha to the extent he didn't deem likely. If this was depressing her over InuYasha, he didn't know what to do.

"Lady Kagome," he said after a moment, interrupting her in whatever rant she may have been on at that moment. "What happened to injure InuYasha?" he asked. He was simply too curious now. Kagome shrugged.

"I got out of the well, he was there, we talked, then…" she wrinkled her face. "Then he ran away from me, and I chased him, and he fell down a hole," she said. Miroku sighed.

"No, Lady Kagome, you really must be quite specific," he said quietly.

"Um, but that's all that happened," she said. Miroku nodded to her. He believed her. Why shouldn't he? _She_ believed her, too. He just knew that couldn't have been the whole story.

"Please, _everything_," he urged, not as gently as he would have liked to. Kagome looked indignant for a moment, then seemed to consider it quietly.

"All right," she sighed. "I came out of the well, I grabbed a bag of potato chips, I sighed at them… I thought about InuYasha for a moment…" she said, adding the last part hesitantly. "Then I started to walk to the village, but InuYasha was up in a tree nearby, and I told him to come down. He did," she said.

"So, did the tree fall on him, or something?" asked Sango, standing in the doorway. She'd just gotten back from checking on InuYasha's wounds, and she appeared more convinced than ever that he couldn't have simply _fallen._ Kagome shook her head.

"No, no, nothing like that," said Kagome quickly. She looked embarrassed for a moment, before saying, "Then we talked for a moment, An---"

"—What did you talk _about_?" asked Sango sharply. Rely on Sango and Miroku to make a nicely balanced good cop bad cop pair. Miroku smiled. Normally he and Sango used the tactic on InuYasha, and Miroku was the bad cop. It was nice to have the tables… Well, turned wasn't enough. It was more like flipped over, chopped up, fed to poodles, burned, then had new tables bought, and turned _those_. It was the same basic theory, though.

"That doesn't matter," said Kagome eventually.

"Lady Kagome," said Miroku, soothingly. "Everything that happened could hold valuable information. What you talked about, did it distress him to the point of being self destructive? Everything is relevant," he said, looking encouragingly at her. It wasn't true, however. There was no way that what they were talking about could have broken InuYasha's arm and given his a head wound that serious, unless Kagome had learned to _really_ glare daggers.… but Sango and Miroku were nosy, and after all the practice of their techniques they were very, very good at getting gossip and information. Kagome took a deep breath.

"I was apologizing," she blurted out. Miroku nodded sagely. He hadn't fully expected that. After glancing to Sango, he couldn't be sure if she had been expecting it either, since she was generally good at covering her surprise. A warrior woman would have to be.

"Go on," he said sweetly. Kagome sighed again, as if daring herself to remember something unpleasant.

"Then… He ran away from me," she said simply, and unaffectedly. She opened her mouth the continue, but Sango cut her off harshly.

"Just 'ran away'? Did you _say_ anything specific to make him _run away_…? Did _he_ say anything?" said Sango darkly. Kagome winced at Sango's demeanor. That was the point, of course, but it was still hard for the good cop to watch the bad cop victimize poor Kagome. However, that was how he was suppose to feel about it, otherwise how was he to convincingly portray that feeling to the victim?

"He said… 'I need to think'," whined Kagome.

"What, you need to think so you can make up an answer?" said Sango severely. Kagome looked helpless.

"No!" she said, desperately. "No! I wouldn't lie to you guys!" she said.

"It's all right, Lady Kagome," cooed Miroku. He did his best to make _honey _seem bitter. "Calm down a bit before answering."

"But I did answer! That's what he said! He said he needed to think!" Kagome wailed incoherently. Miroku and Sango exchanged glances uneasily. He, at least, had forgotten that they shouldn't put that much pressure on. After all, this wasn't InuYasha, who needed to be emotionally grenaded before he would notice, this was _Kagome_, who wasn't _fragile _in comparison, it was simply that InuYasha and Kagome _couldn't be compared_. From Sango's countenance, it was clear that she had made the same mistake. They finished their guilty exchange, and Sango plunged on.

"What happened Next, Kagome-chan?" asked Sango, with no detectable venom at all.

"He ran away, and I don't know why!" burbled Kagome. She was breathing heavy, and looked like she was on the verge of tears. Time for the good cop.

"Are you sure you do not know, Lady Kagome?" asked Miroku kindly. Kagome nodded slightly, sniffling some.

"That was all he said, then he walked away. I… I chased after him, to try and find out why, but he just ran away faster…" she moaned.

"Please go on," said Miroku, as sweetly as he could manage. He had never truly appreciated how difficult being the good cop was.

"Well, then _I_ went faster, y'know, to try and catch him… But he started running. So I started running… That's when he fell down the cavern," said Kagome, no longer shaking, or exclaiming quite as violently. Miroku was unconvinced. The only way InuYasha could have gotten his injuries the way described would be if he bounced off the walls of the cavern a few times. That seemed unlikely.

"I don't think you're telling us everything," said Sango. She had eased up on the rancor in her tone, but she could easily be picked for the bad cop.

"I am!" Kagome said defensively. "We were running, and he fell! Then I ran up to the hole and called him, but got no answer, so I was worried!" she snapped.

"Shh, Lady Kagome," cooed Miroku quietly. He waited until she calmed again before asking her his next question. "Lady Kagome, you must give me every detail of every moment you can possibly remember. How many steps you took, how many he took, did you call out to him? Everything's relevant. _Everything_ is an important factor for solving this problem," he said, seriously. Kagome faltered. She sighed, then looked back into her memory.

"Okay, I don't know how many steps we took, but I'll give as many details as I can," she assured them quietly. It was almost as if something clicked into place. "He started running, and I didn't know what to do, so I called out to him. All that did was make him speed up, so I called out to him again, and he started running. So I called out to him _again_, and he still didn't stop, so I sat him, and he--"

"You what!?" exclaimed Sango, loosing her unconcerned malice all in one go by bursting into what may have been a fighting stance. "You kept telling us he fell, and if he fell because you 'sat' him, then that changes it!" she yelled. Kagome shied back.

"H-how does that ch-change anything?" Kagome cried. Sango opened her mouth, but Miroku stopped her with a sharp glance.

"Lady Kagome," he began quietly. "We know only a little about how the necklace works, but what we _do_ know is that if he's falling when you use it, it will speed up his fall, and continue to do so until he lands on something hard enough to stop his descent. You understand, don't you, Lady Kagome?" he finished. Miroku waited patiently as the girl's brain cells came into affect. A dubious, yet horrified expression spread over Kagome's face..

"Then you mean… It was… _my_ fault?" she asked, her voice was shaky, and it was almost as if she refused to believe it, but know it to be the truth. Sango and Miroku nodded in unison.

"And now we can do the math to add up why his wounds are so fierce. Night of the new moon, plus fall, plus sit, multiplied by one hundred feet equals very damaged InuYasha. One who might not survive the night, since he's asleep with a head wound…" said Miroku gravely. It was worse than he thought.

"I'll tell Kaede, so she can treat him properly," said Sango, getting up.

Glass shattered from the other hut.

"Perhaps I should come with you, if InuYasha's already awake," said Miroku quickly, withdrawing his hand from Kagome's rear and placing it on his now quite tender cheek.

…

Miroku stood in the doorway, calmly talking to Kaede, who had taken cover outside the hut.

"So, he's still asleep, and can't get up?" Miroku asked again, still not sure he could believe that from the state the hut was in right now. All the carefully laid out herbs were strewn about, all the pots and caldrons were tossed into each other, and all around, and the various vials, that had always held strange looking liquids that he had always been quite convinced were bad for drinking, were broken. Kaede nodded from her spot behind the protection of the wall.

"I don't know how 'e got the first pot in his hand, but 'e sure did some damage with it…" said Kaede. Miroku could say nothing so appropriate as simply nodding in vigorous agreement, which he then did.

InuYasha remained still, and just where he had been when Miroku had last left him, the only difference was that he appeared… Fretful. Even though he remained motionless. Something in his expression prompted this sense. When Miroku drew slightly closer for a better look he realized that the young man before him wasn't as still as he appeared. In fact, he was twitching slightly every now and then, and sweating. When Miroku was within range of InuYasha's arm it shot up to grab him, but he managed to dodge the clumsy attack by stepping backwards into a pot and slamming into the floor due to his loss of footing.

It would have been less embarrassing to have just been grabbed, he thought slightly irritably. He stood up again, and looked over at InuYasha, who appeared to be muttering something.

"I… I don't know yet, okay…? Lemme think…" he said. Miroku frowned. Clearly it was gibberish. Miroku listened closer yet. "I need… I need to think… You – ow!… You hurt me… Lemme think…" he mumbled. Yes, it was for sure now. This wasn't any language he was familiar with.

…

Kagome was pacing. As Miroku had gathered, she hadn't realized that InuYasha's injuries were so severe. She had told him that she had previously believed InuYasha to have a minor injury, but was exhausted by the day, and his transformation. When faced with the reality of the situation, Kagome became more and more agitated, her reserves of ease gradually wearing away. Miroku could practically _see_ her emotions changing into a deeper state of unease. Her restlessness was not unjustified, and not so localized as to just be with her. Sango was in no state of relaxation herself, and Miroku had to admit to his own worries as well. He had decided already that he had to play the voice of reason, though, and he knew his agitation was to be silenced as much as he could make it, if this was to come to pass. In the past months InuYasha's state had been gradually increasing Miroku's stress levels, but this topped everything prior quite easily. He needed a drink, _then_ he'd be the voice of reason. He needed something soothing to happen.

He stood up to head over to the tavern, trying to collect himself as much as his anxiety would allow along the way.

Before he got there, however, his eyes had been drawn to the same place his thoughts had been. Kaede's hut. Miroku's pressing concern overwhelmed him this time, and the thought of InuYasha not surviving the night while he was drinking Sake was too guilt inducing to bear. Thinking on that even a moment told Miroku what his next action couldn't be, so he steered his path away from the bar, and toward InuYasha's sickroom again.

When he got there InuYasha was quieted from how he'd been on Miroku's last visit. He was holding still, with a blanket and a fire near him to keep warm. Miroku sat down next to his companion quietly. He'd once heard that even when asleep, a person could hear you, and sometime it would help them wake up if you talk to them. Or was that if they were in a coma? Oh well, unimportant. He would talk to InuYasha, if only for the sake of calming himself.

"Lady Kagome feels the deepest regrets over what happened, you know," said Miroku. He watched as InuYasha didn't react at all when told this.

"She's really quite worried about you. We all are, but she has the worst of it. That's not surprising, really," said Miroku. Once again, InuYasha didn't react in any way that Miroku could discern.

"She's really something. She came back to apologize, you know," Miroku told his unconscious friend, who once again didn't do anything to acknowledge. Miroku sighed.

"We've found out where Naraku is."

InuYasha's eyes snapped open.

"Good morning," said Miroku. He looked outside. "Well, good… Midnight," he amended. InuYasha looked around, severely dazed, by his appearance. His eyes set onto Miroku.

"'oo're'ya?" he asked groggily. Miroku, confused only for a moment, answered with,

"It's me, Miroku. You've taken a nasty blow to the head," he informed, handing InuYasha some water. "How many fingers am I holding up?" asked Miroku.

"Three," answered InuYasha promptly, taking a hearty swig of water.

"No, I'm holding up… Oh," said Miroku, dropping his hand back down. "You're in Kaede's hut. Do you know what happened?" asked Miroku. InuYasha looked up at the ceiling, flexing his left arm.

"I have a broken arm," he said calmly. "And I'm dizzy," he added. "But I don't remember… I… I remember going for a walk, then… Nothing," answered InuYasha. Miroku was impressed by how helpful InuYasha was being.

"Stay here, I'll fetch Kaede to see what can be done about it. Try not to move," said Miroku, standing up.

He left the room to seek out the healer.

InuYasha stared up at the ceiling for all the entertainment that it would offer.

He certainly remembered going for a walk, and he certainly remembered a dark, dry place that had a drip… But he didn't remember anything else. At all.

Who _was_ that guy?

…

The crowd, while it _was_ thinning, was still quite hard to navigate through, especially for midnight. Well, he supposed that was because it was summer, and so much easier to work when it wasn't hot. Or it could have been that watching InuYasha injured was sort of like revenge for being terrified of him all the time. It worked either way, really.

Mulling by a tankard, that was where Miroku felt it was most likely to find the priestess. Precisely the thing he had been unwilling to do, but now seemed to be an even better idea than before.

"Lady Kaede!" he called, pushing his way through the crowd. "Lady Kaede!!" He shouted.

"Yes, Lord monk, what do ye need?" she asked calmly from behind him. He looked bewildered only for a moment, then collected himself again.

"InuYasha's awake," he said. "And he didn't destroy anything yet, so you should be safe to go in there, fear not," he assured her hastily. Kaede shot him a short glare, as if saying, 'I wasn't afraid!' She then turned, and headed swiftly to the hut.

For a day that had been so rotten, Miroku was pleased to discover that the night wasn't following the same lines. In fact, InuYasha had woken up, they'd gotten word of Naraku, Kagome had returned… All these things were good things.

When they arrived at the hut, Miroku followed Kaede inside, just to assure himself that InuYasha _had,_ in fact, woken up.

"How are ye feelin'?" asked Kaede, pressing a wrinkled hand onto InuYasha's forehead.

"My head's throbbing, would you not put your hand on it?" he asked. Miroku felt his face wrinkle into confusion. InuYasha was admitting that he was in pain? And not only admitting it, but not being a complete ass to prevent more pain? Miroku would have expected InuYasha to snap at Kaede, at the very least, but this was simply a cool, statement of fact, then a request. What happened? Did the head wound do more damage than they had originally thought?

"And my arm is really broken," finished InuYasha, motioning to his right arm. Kaede nodded.

"Aye, we know that," she said. "Anything else?" InuYasha's face twisted with concentration, as if he was inspecting his body with mental feelers.

"Not that I know of," he said finally.

'Not that I know of'? That wasn't the kind of response that InuYasha normally gave. Normally it would be a smug, rude response to the effect of, 'No, as if there'd _be_ anything else wrong with me. Ha! A fall like that? Not a chance!'

While Miroku was thankful for InuYasha being so helpful, he still found it concerning.

"I shall fetch Kagome. I'm sure you wish to see her," said Miroku.

"No!" said InuYasha, sitting bolt upright. Before he felt back down in pain, Miroku could have sworn there was a look of total panic in his eyes. Was there really? Was Miroku just imagining that InuYasha was sick? Was this some new form of hypochondria, or was InuYasha really just acting strangely?

"Why not?" he asked calmly. InuYasha looked at him briefly, opening his mouth to respond. He stopped, and shut his mouth again, seeming to be in deep thought.

"I… I don't know," he said eventually, hesitating as he did so.

"Lady Kagome will be worried, though. I'm sure she'd like to see ye well," assured Kaede. InuYasha looked from Kaede to Miroku, a look of growing confusion on his face.

"Who's Lady Kagome?" he asked.

…


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: if wishes were fishes I'd have a lot of owning-InuYasha-sushi. But they aren't._

_**(AN: Before reading this, read SANGO'S CHOICE, it will make more sense that way, since this is a prequel.)**_

…

…

…

The news of InuYasha having no memories beyond the hole, and none after that before he woke from his stupor, was shocking to Kagome. She'd desperately tried any tactic she could think of to give herself the strength to face him, not knowing who she was, but she couldn't. Her mind had been filling only with the worst scenarios, again. It was too painful to be forgotten by him, him whom she cared so deeply for. If she looked at him, and there was no recognition in his eyes, and he'd have to be introduced to her… She didn't think she could bear it at all!

Or, at least, that was what Sango had gathered, watching Kagome pacing the room, gradually her trail closing in on the demon hunter, forcing her to relocate, _again._

"Kagome Chan," said Sango, clearly startling Kagome back into reality. "Kagome Chan, please pause, if not for the sake of your legs, then for the sake of the floor. I can see the holes you're wearing in the wood from your turns!" she laughed, desperately trying for a lighter mood. Kagome flushed, but stopped. Standing there motionless for a moment, as if it was too much for her to move, Kagome appeared deep in thought. She then proceeded to sit down.

"Sango Chan, have you ever had Amnesia?" asked Kagome. Sango smiled, but she could feel the blankness on her expression. Amnesia? She didn't know what it was. Which part of InuYasha's condition was she speaking of, if that? Before Sango had a chance to ask, Kagome resumed, seemingly unaware of Sango's presence.

"Because, I never have, and I'm really worried. I mean, I don't know how permanent it is, I mean, what if he never remembers who I am?" Ah, the 'Amnesia' was memory loss. Sango understood that much. What a strange question… Was amnesia more common in the future, or something? It wasn't something that most people got to experience, thought Sango. "And then… What if we go somewhere, and someone asks him who he's with, and he can't remember, then he gets lots, and picks a fight, and ends up a bloody mess and dies!?" gasped Kagome. She was clearly beyond the stretches of sanity, or common sense. This was a place all too familiar for Kagome… Seemingly random and nonsensical fantasies were apparently what her mind produced in times of worry. How silly… For one thing, he could still form new memories perfectly well, he simply didn't have his old ones. Certainly Kagome knew that? He could also fight better than anyone she knew, and he risked dying every day. It was just part if his life, life and limb being gambled every day. For another thing, since when did he and Kagome ever go anywhere together? Instead of bringing these points up, however, and shattering any impossible—Er, _positive _fantasies Kagome might choose to have about InuYasha actually acting chivalrous, Sango simply said,

"Kagome Chan, In all likelihood, his condition is temporary, and his memories should slowly return as soon as his head is healed. This is just another wound, but wounds heal, Kagome Chan," said Sango, being as reassuring as she knew how. Kagome, however, didn't appear to be listening. Instead, she was indulging in unproductive fancies, throwing her anxiety into math problems with multiplication signs, and no subtraction… And was that an exponent?

"What if he dies because he doesn't remember who an enemy is, and they take advantage of that? It'll be all my fault, Sango Chan!" wailed Kagome, collapsing onto the straw pillow clutched in her arms. As the younger girl hugged her knees tightly, Sango considered her words. This was actually a valid point. Someone like InuYahsa had too many enemies to simply name them all off, and if InuYasha were to simply _trust _them, then they could easily wound him, or _kill_ him, through trickery. Sango hadn't thought of that, and if InuYasha was going to be up and about, she'd better make sure there was someone with him at all times until he remembered for himself, lest a fate just about as bad as death befall him.

"Kagome Chan, please calm down," she said, coming back to her fretting friend. She turned to Shippo, the little fox demon's eyes alight with worry, more for Kagome's sake than InuYasha's. "Shippo Chan, will you watch over Kagome Chan?" asked Sango. Shippo nodded, putting a reassuring hand on Kagome's shoulder. Sango, through the entire conversation, had tried to be less worried than she actually was with her friend to try and simmer her down, but she could bear that no longer, and decided to go check on InuYasha, which could also be construed as being worried, but the benefit to that was that she wasn't in Kagome's presence.

"Don't worry, Sango, I'll make sure she's okay," said Shippo soberly. Sango nodded, and with a brief smile to him, and an encouraging one to Kagome, she headed out of the hut to check on their little invalid. Her stroll was brisk, and brought her to the medical hut in a punctual manner ensuring that she wouldn't have to talk to anyone else. Drawing aside the flap, Sango entered the room to find InuYasha sitting up in the corner, unaccompanied by anyone. He was nursing his arm, holding it tightly against his chest. He seemed as if he was either going into, or recovering from, sleep. He watched her cautiously as she came in. His golden eyed, unfocussed before, had become fixed in a watchful stare on her. Sango didn't allow her discomfort at this gaze to show, though it was there.

"InuYasha," she began, then remembered herself. "I'm Sango. A… companion who travels with you on the jewel hunt. Uh, we're searching for the Shikon… No, you won't know what that is either," she added at his blank look. "Uh, you, Kagome Chan, the Monk – that is, Miroku – Shippo – a Kitsune – and I all travel with you, trying to collect the shards of the 'Jewel of four souls', which was shattered. We're also trying to stop a great evil rising in the land, known as Naraku," she finished, speaking very slowly trying to make sure he understood. At their enemy's name, a look of confused hatred crossed InuYasha's face.

"Naraku…" he mumbled. "Why… Why does that make me think of spiders?" he asked. Sango's face suddenly relaxed, and split into a grin.

"You're starting to remember," she said in a relieved sigh. "That would be because he's a re-incarnation of an old bandit that fell for Lady Kik—" sango stopped suddenly. Sango didn't want to be the one to allow InuYasha any memories of Kikyo. Since she was not only vague on the details, she was also loath to try and explain the complicated set of circumstances surrounding her death, and how the jewel was initially captured, for even the most robust InuYasha must have troubles looking through _that _pile of memories. After the embarrassed silence she'd used to ponder that, she continued. "…Well, his name was Onigumo, or 'demon spider'," finished Sango in the tones of someone who knows they're not telling the whole truth, and feels awful about it.

"Onigumo…" he said, as if testing the name on his mouth, and seeming to take note of her hesitation. "That sounds right, I guess," he said, eyeing her carefully.

Sango looked down at InuYasha, and for the first time, truly examined him since his waking. He looked… Younger. Un-jaded by his years of abuse, and outcast. Not remembering the banishment he received, and the taunts that forced him to grow up too fast, and not all at once. She had never known InuYasha to look seventeen, as he was, but right now, he looked like a child, looking up to her for help. Help she could only offer because she had her memories, not because she was older. Her age was just the same, but just as InuYasha had needed to grow and protect himself, so had Sango. She's been raised in a village that made its living on killing, and she had been not only exposed to that, but immersed in it ever since she could remember, from her birth being told that she had to learn to fight, and to kill. And she'd learned that quite well, too. And then she had lived on the other side of the killing, waking up in her own grave to the cold, hard reality that her family was dead, and her entire village razed. Anger had blazed inside of her then, corrugating the youthful innocence she'd possessed by believing that demons were vermin… Yes, she had more in common with prickly InuYasha than she cared to admit. They had been stripped of their childhood before they'd learned to love them. And InuYasha couldn't remember it. Sango could think of no more to say to InuYasha, her thoughts running in these loops of self pity, and pity for InuYasha. It might have been just as well for him if he never regained him memories, for, despite him seeming worried, and confused, he wasn't as angry, or unhappy, he was just concerned. Starting anew. Something Sango had wished for, certainly. But no, it was too dangerous, and the world _still_ wouldn't accept a Hanyou, if they hadn't accepted him then. But now he had friends… Maybe…

"InuYasha," she began again, drawing him out of his musings as well as herself. She forced her face out of an expression of depression and worry. "There is evil in this world, and much of it is after us. Carelessness is a luxury you cannot afford," she said, mustering all the command her voice would hold, though she could feel it quivering again at the mention on Naraku, and the thought of the crimes that Naraku committed on her. "You have enemies throughout this realm who would be more than happy to take advantage of your current mental state, and we can't let that happen. You cannot go out alone, there are too many dangers that you will not know on your own, do you understand?" she asked, as if talking to a child. Like a child, InuYasha nodded, appearing mesmerized. Sango sighed. "Good," she told him shortly. "I certainly hope we can keep you safe until your own memories return. Let us know if anything comes back, will you?" she asked, almost hopefully. InuYasha, once again, nodded mutely.

With that, Sango forced on an encouraging smile, bowed slightly, and turned to leave the room. She'd halfway opened the flap when InuYasha spoke next.

"Sa-Uh, Lady Sango?" he asked. Sango nearly laughed at the address he used. Of all the things she never expected to be called by InuYasha, that was possibly the highest on the list.

"Please, though you don't remember me, you've always just called me 'Sango,' and you are allowed to again," she told him, surprising herself with the warmth that her voice held.

"Sango," he said, testing the word as if it would fly out of his mouth and attack him. This too, nearly triggered a laughing fit in Sango, but she held it back, only showing an amused smile. He smiled back at her, cautiously. He seemed quite satified with the name. "I do remember something…" he muttered, as if unsure if he should mention it. Sango nodded, her face quickly wiped of amusement, and set into a worried look. InuYasha watched her face for a moment before continuing. "Well, there was something… I don't know how to describe it. Like, a fight, but only with words… A girl said something – I don't remember what – and I collapsed, helpless and…" his face reddened as he said the next word, and it sounded as if he had to force it out, even with all the embarrassment. "…I was… _crying_…" he muttered. Sango's brow wrinkled. Some kind of magic? That seemed right out. InuYasha, crying? Perhaps this was an early memory, one that he'd never spoken of, which would seem more recent since he had no other sense of time. A short silence passed where Sango tried not to be angry thinking of the possibility of spells.

"Do you remember what this girl looked like?" she asked, since nothing else leapt to mind. She found it remarkably hard to keep that malice for spells out of her tone. InuYasha concentrated, choosing to ignore her tone it seemed, and Sango could see the strain he was putting on his inner eye.

"Blue eyes…" he mumbled. "Black hair, down to the small of her back. A little shorter than you, I think," he said.

"That… That _sounds_ like Kagome Chan," said Sango cautiously. InuYasha nodded slowly.

"I think that's right," he said. "When the Monk came in and said that someone named 'Kagome' wanted to see me… I panicked, and that came back, very vividly… I don't know what it means, though," he said. Sango's brow wrinkled. Kagome, hurting InuYasha with… Some kind of spell, or something? That didn't sound right. She sighed, and closed her eyes, trying to figure some plan of action out.

"Okay, I want you to try and think about something else. Don't worry about that for now, and keep me informed about it, all right? If anything else comes back, write it down so you don't forget it," she said, motioning to a drawer that help writing implements in it. InuYasha glanced at it, and nodded silently, then back to her. "Is there anything you need? Hungry, thirsty?" she asked. InuYasha held his water flask, and shook his head.

"No, I have water, and I'm not hungry, thanks," he said. Sango smiled, still unnerved by his 'thanks.'

…

InuYasha watched the woman go. Sango… Sango… There was instant trust when he saw her, and he was sure that he would have trusted her with his very life in battle. He thought it strange that the first thing his mind had leapt to was battle, but from the way she spoke it apparently wasn't that strange to think… She talked of evil, and a hunt for some treasure called the Shikon No Kakera… Perhaps he _was_ a fighter of some type. She'd said they battled evil, after all, that was more likely than not to be demon battling, right?

He had been trying to figure out what to think of Sango. She was wise, and younger than she appeared, he could tell that right off. Certainly wise for her years, and then some. She didn't care for any honorifics used by him, but the Monk had reffered to her as Lady Sango, that meant they were close friends, right? It had sounded right when he said it, and he tripped over his own mouth trying to address her formally. He wondered how well they knew each other, and for how long. She had hesitated several times in telling him anything about himself. Her hesitation seemed pained. Why would it be pained? She didn't want to hurt him, or she didn't want to have to remember something painful to herself? Could have been either. There had been that long silence in the middle… What was that for? She had watched him mournfully, as if afraid she'd lost something precious. Was he precious to her? It was a possibility. She seemed like a strong young woman, and nice enough. Certainly attractive enough, but he couldn't be sure they were that type of relationship. Surely she would have told him, if they were? Or maybe that would have seemed imposing. Maybe she was crushed that he didn't really remember her. It had seemed that way to him. If that was the case – and he was well aware that he had no way of knowing if it was or not without asking – then surely she would take charge of his protection, and tell him dangers, just as she had. Miroku – or whatever that monk's name was – hadn't told him he had enemies, and had only looked half as worried as this 'Sango' had. She'd also looked angry when he mentioned another woman. Jealous, perhaps? He laughed inwardly to himself. The possibility that Sango cared too deeply for him to admit it was there, but he had to be wary, for though it was a possibility, it wasn't for sure. And he did had a sort of loathing feeling at the concept of love… He wondered why. Had he had a traumatic breakup recently? Not recently? He couldn't _remember!_ Of all the punishments he could withstand, this one was ranked very, very high on the bad list…

Shaking his mind as far from this line of thought as he could, he stopped to consider his _other _relationships. He had met two out of four of his traveling companions, if Sango hadn't left anyone out in her list. All he had to do now was meet Kagome, who made him shiver to think of, with that memory forcing itself on him as he did, and Shippo, their Kitsune friend. The inherent negative emotional reaction revolving around this 'Kagome' was unnerving to InuYasha. He tried, unsuccessfully, to figure out why he didn't like this Kagome, but all that came to him was that vision he'd described to Sango. Him, falling because of something she said. Leaning on something…? He was in a building that looked… Well, it was dark, but he simply couldn't remember it.

He turned his attentions elsewhere, trying to ignore the currently most worrying problem, and instead he locked a dark glare on his arm, willing it to heal faster.

What he'd surmised thus far was that he wasn't human, what with his claws, and all. He was pretty sure he was some kind of demon, and despite that, he felt… Well, for lack of a better word, _safe_ with all the humans he'd met so far. The old hag had brought him little but annoyance, but she was still trustworthy, he felt. Though really, how much could he rely on his intuition? As Sango had said, there were enemies who would want to take advantage of him. What if these people were his enemies?

He shook his head. No, these people he could almost remember as being his friends. That was enough for him. And with Sango especially so far, he'd trusted. It had been the only option, really. He couldn't imagine a likely scenario where she wasn't worth giving his trust to.

There was a creak of the wooden floor board at the door, startling InuYasha enough to wake him. Some time in his musings, he must've fallen asleep, but he didn't know when. He looked up to greet the figure entering, but his mouth went dry.

"Hello, InuYasha," said the girl standing in front of him. The girl was certainly the same from the vision. Shorter than Sango, silky raven hair down to the small of her back, blue eyes, but the most telling thing was that when she entered the room it gave him the same feeling of sheer helplessness he had spoken of. The same…

_She was shaking in rage now. She continued, nearly breathless. "You treated me like a pebble in your shoe, and now you want me back? No!" She said just before storming off._

_InuYasha reached out a hand for her, but didn't dare move from this spot. Somehow it felt like if he didn't move, then this couldn't have been real. If he just stayed perfectly still, then maybe he could still wake up to find out it was just a dream…_

"Um, Hello," he said in return, hoarsely, trying to tear his mind away from… Whatever that was. He took a hurried swig from his water flask to wet his mouth.

"I'm, uh…" she blushed, and fell silent.

"You're Kagome," he finished, wondering if she was feeling guilty for something. The girl's face went all alight with joy.

"You remember?!" she asked excitedly. "You know who I am?" she said, her voice rising to a piercing squeak that he found painful to his ears… Ears, which he then found were on the top of his head, not where they were on everyone else.

"No," he said, more quietly than was necessary, as if to hint for her to follow. "I don't. Sango came in earlier and told me about my, uh, I think she used the words, traveling companions. You and Shippo were the only ones I hadn't met, and no offence to you or anything, but you don't look like a fox demon," he finished, trying to talk long enough to let his ears stop ringing. Kagome looked crest-fallen.

"Oh," she said sadly, flopping down in front of him, her scent easily getting to his nose…

_Her scent, now that he was closer, was off… There was something _wrong_ about it, and InuYasha couldn't quite pinpoint it._

"That's too bad," continued Kagome, braking into his thoughts. This girl, she didn't smell like she was only herself, as he remembered, and was gathering now. Like there was someone else, all over her… But he had no time to ponder such things. "Sango Chan would have been so happy if you'd gotten better. Miroku and Shippo too, but they seem more relaxed about it," said Kagome quickly, not admitting to being afraid for him herself. "I mean, I think she's being strong for the rest of us, but…" InuYasha took careful note of Sango's anxiety over his state.

"Does Sango lead us? Is she in charge, or something?" he asked after a long silence. Kagome frowned, and shook her head slightly.

"No, not really. It's more like a group effort, and sorta like… Well, I guess really _you're _the closest thing to a leader this group has," said Kagome. InuYasha's brow wrinkled. Perhaps then Sango was taking charge in his stead, rather than being more concerned than the others.

"Then again," said Kagome, breaking into his thoughts. "Miroku Sama has always sorta been the one to worry about health and stuff, so maybe he's like our second in command, or something. But really, we're just a group, not following a leader, or anything like that." InuYasha nodded. So, Sango was taking charge, even though she didn't have to. That gave him another piece of the puzzle.

Now that they were on the topic of Sango, Kagome seemed particularly unwilling to speak. It was as if she were completely bashful on that topic. In a vain attempt to strike up a conversation and learn more about her, he had tried to talk about things he knew, only to find that… Well, as is natural with amnesia, he didn't know much of anything. Or, if he did, he didn't know he knew it. Instead, he had asked about her strange clothes. This, he did not expect to have such an effect with.

"Oh, right, you don't remember. I'm from the future, and I live in a shrine that's over the bone eater's well. That's the well I use to transport myself back and forth, see," she told him. He had been immensely confused. It must have shown particularly clearly on his face, because even she picked up on it.

"Well," she said. "The first time I came to the past—Er, here, I suppose, I was trying to find my cat, because he'd gone in the well house," said Kagome.

"_No, I'm in the well house, silly," said the voice, with a girlish giggle._

"The well house," he repeated, trying to take his mind away from that painful flashback. Kagome nodded.

"And, see, there was this big centipede demon-thingy, and it attacked me because I had the jewel in my stomach. That's a longer story, and I'll tell you later, if you're still interested," she added, though she seemed reluctant. "Anyway, I came here, and I didn't know how to get back to my time, or even where I was then. But eventually I figured it out. Anyway, I'm running from the centipede, and…" she blushed. "You saved me," she said.

"I'm a hero," said InuYasha, raising his good arm in a victory fist.

"Something like that. You've saved a lot of people. More than anyone in the group, and even Sango would admit that," she said with a giggle. InuYasha smiled. Even Sango…?

By the time he and Kagome had finished talking, InuYasha had learned all he could stand to learn about the girl, and all she would get the chance to tell that night – He was convinced that his ear would fall off his she said another word! But that meeting – or, re-meeting of a friend, went over quite well, especially if you compared it with meeting Shippo, who took the opportunity when it presented its self. Nice, docile, wounded InuYasha with no memories, was the perfect person for Shippo to take his revenge on for all the times InuYasha had snapped at him for no reason. By the time Shippo was done, they had to pry InuYasha off the wall, and give Shippo major medical help. It was clear, this boy was still InuYasha, no matter how much better his temper _appeared_…

…

InuYasha's body, demonic as it was, healed completely within a week, and he was already practicing with his sword again, and getting restless. He had been stuck in a village full of fearful humans for a week, and despite himself, he couldn't be nice to them. Not only did he find it difficult to attempt this feat, but they all turned their noses up at him, being as rude as they thought they ought to something that's _only half human_… InuYasha felt an amazing amount of sting in those words, and longed to be on the hunt again, searching for the jewel, killing demons, or doing _something_ other than stand around and get taunted. However, Sango had put her foot down, saying that it was too risky to stray far, and despite their best efforts, _somehow _or other, they were almost always separated. Also, she kept insisting that he wasn't up to full strength yet, so they would remain encamped, for the time being, until she was satisfied. The others had gone along with it easily. So, as a natural effect, InuYasha spent most of his time indoors, enjoying the same scenery, day after day, only taking early sword practice, and late as well, when people were either too busy to care, or too tired to be out of their own houses. Still, he could feel the cabin fever setting firmly in its place.

Sango came in, spreading a momentary burst of light when the flap was pulled aside, which subsided when she was in all the way.

"Enjoying another wall today, I see," she said. "That left one, I always thought, was far more entertaining than the others. Don't you agree?" she asked lightly. InuYasha sneered, though playfully.

"No, I always thought the far one was the best. It's the biggest, you know," he said in a chuckle. Sango snickered at him before speaking again.

"Food," she said, handing him a platter of mutton, rice and fried mushrooms. He took it thankfully, and began eating slowly. Sango attended to her own meal. The silence that ensued was complete, only broken by the sound of chewing, and the magnified sound of their utensils being used. When they had finished, Sango appeared dozy, ready for a nap. InuYasha had to admit that he was tired too, but only from so much inactivity. It was a hot mid-afternoon and he wanted to be out there, but instead the seductive little woman had tricked him into eating a filling meal. She and her scheming… He chuckled at that though slightly, but since he had Sango here anyway – and no one else, for the first time in a while – he figured he out to talk to her about what he remembered thus-far.

"A well house," he said. Sango looked confused.

"What?" she asked. Well, she probably _was _confused.

"That thing I told you about before. It happened in a well house, and it _was_ Kagome," he said. He described what he could, to the best of his ability. Sango didn't interrupt, nor did she ask any questions, but she nodded attentively when he paused.

"I see," she said when he finished. "Is there anything else?" she asked, her voice filled with confusion. InuYasha had pondered whether or not to mention this. If Kagome had a lover, it would be terrible to expose her, but it was something useful to mention, he supposed. And besides, Kagome and Sango were so close, that whatever he knew, surely she knew?

"Yeah, there's one thing," he said reluctantly. Well, it was too late to stop now. Sango already had her steady, chocolate brown gaze fixed attentively on him. He drew a deep breath, wondering how to say it best, and wondering why it was such a challenge. "You see, Kagome, she… She didn't _smell_ right," he said. Sango's brow wrinkled.

"When?" she asked simply, clearly confused. Was he simply imagining the anger there, or was there just a touch?

"Um, I don't know. Sometime _after_ that thing in the well house, but before I fell," he said. "She smelled like there was… Someone else, all over her. Like a lover, or something," he said. Sango visibly stiffened. InuYasha fell short of the rest of what he was going to say.

"Like a lover…" she repeated. "Anyone we know?" she asked in a squeak. Was she uncomfortable with the word 'lover'? Or, had he been right, and were _they_ lovers? He'd have to imagine it'd be hard to talk about other lovers then, right?

"No, it… It didn't smell like Miroku, or anyone else around that I know of. I, uh," he blushed heavily, embarrassed. "I made double sure it wasn't my scent," he added.

"So, Kagome has a lover that…" Sango choked. "That we don't know?" she added, clearly trying to suppress another squeak.

…

Sango burst into the guest hut. She had no time for good-cop, bad-cop, she could get Miroku if he was handy.

And, it turned out, he was. Kagome wasn't in the hut, but he was.

"Monk, where's Kagome?" she barked, feeling the anger seethe off her. Miroku stayed cool under her glare, and simply came near to her, worry creasing his face.

"She has gone to her own time," he said carefully. "She should be returned tomorrow evening. What ails you, Lady Sango?" he asked, trying to be as soothing as possible. Sango couldn't let herself give in, though. She was angry at Kagome now, and she had a good reason to be, since InuYasha couldn't be angry for himself. She couldn't hide it anyway, and she couldn't think of a good enough reason to, so she simply blurted it out, for the Monk to puzzle for himself.

"Kagome has a lover, other than InuYasha!" she said. Miroku took a cautious step back.

"That is indeed a bold accusation. Do you know who?" he asked carefully. Sango sighed.

"No, I don't. I didn't even know until InuYasha told me," she said. Miroku laughed.

"Could you be mistaken about it being 'other than'? I could not imagine InuYasha taking it so calmly," he said.

"Miroku, InuYasha doesn't _know_ his own relationship with her! What reason would he have to get angry?" she sighed, and slowed down, cooling her anger, and storing it for the appropriate victim. "He said she had someone else's scent all over her, like a lover. He said _all over_, not just from a hug, but prolonged exposure, sort of thing. He also said that it was no one he's met. He even checked himself, just to be sure, since he didn't remember, but no one!" she said, fighting to push her outrage back into place. Miroku looked grave, considering this carefully.

"He is sure it was not simply her brother, or a hug?" asked Miroku to clarify. Sango nodded, biting her lip to keep from screaming.

"He said it was an adult male, or nearly adult. At least past puberty. And apparently _he_, whoever he was, was on her _breath_! Do people French kiss their families in the future?" huffed Sango, indignantly. Miroku bit his finger, trying to ponder his way out of this. It was almost always the same… Sango and Miroku almost never fought – aside from when he started touching thing that were strictly off-limits – other than when they were fighting InuYasha and Kagome's arguments. Normally Sango, the hot-headed of the two, though only by comparison, would have InuYasha's side of the argument, and Miroku would do his best to defend Kagome. They never accomplished anything, and even when they fought, then InuYasha and Kagome would fight it out themselves too, but it was better than hurling insults at each other, both agreed.

"Perhaps it was a… What are they called…? They're evil, and they stick their hands in your mouth pulling out teeth, as I recall Kagome saying. Don't they have some sort of a pact with fairies that collect teeth? …Oh, my! Yes, a 'Dentist'. Perhaps it was one of them," said Miroku, pretending to believe it. Sango snorted.

"Kagome made those up to scare us, you know that," she said haughtily. "Just like that 'Santa Clause' that comes into your house once a year."

"What if that one was real, though, then he… Uh, then he proceeded to hug her," said Miroku, clearly knowing that he wasn't going to be able to come up with a more believable argument. Sango couldn't focus anything close to rage on Miroku anymore. He was clearly loosing the argument, so Sango did the kindest thing she could have done. She dropped the subject, and began laughing. Miroku, only slightly bewildered, could tell this meant his defeat.

"Poot," he said. Sango smiled at him, recovering from her fit. Silence insued. The light from the windows grew fainter, and both hunter and monk leaned against the walls to attend to their own needs, or that of their equipment. Miroku folded his legs underneath him, and proceeded to meditate, while Sango checked her blade for nicks and sharpness. She took out her wet-stone and focused on maintenance of her weapon. She'd move onto the more challenging task of her Hiraikotsu in a little while.

When the blade was sharp enough to cut through samurai armor once again, Sango let it be, lest she wear down the entire blade in her boredom. InuYasha was not the only one with a smidge of cabin fever.

She sheathed her sword and walked outside. At about dusk InuYasha had been crawling out for practice for the past week, so she figured she'd drill with him. It would at least provide _some _entertainment for one of them, as a worst case scenario.

…

Surely enough, InuYasha _was _drilling again. InuYasha didn't really understand why he had an old, nicked, rusty blade as his weapon, but he supposed that there muse be some reason, so he endeavored to be proficient with it, even with an absence of why he had it.

He took a step forward, leading his arms around him in a sweeping slash which lead into a twist of the elbow, bringing the blade up in another clean arc. He sidestepped, bringing the momentum to the side allowing him a quick spin where he could regroup and get back into the first position. Once there, he did a lightning-quick diagonal slash, and spun the blade, bringing it into a position which it left from almost before it had finished getting there. It was brought up in and uppercut, then—

--It was countered. The loud clash of steel on steel echoed unexpectedly in InuYasha's ears. His eyes widened to see Sango, in front of him, casually holding her sword horizontally in a perfect counter, clearly with such ease as if she weren't even trying. InuYasha grinned widely. He'd wanted to practice with someone, since there's only so much to can do on your own. And Sango was the perfect candidate. She looked strong enough, and of all the people around, she was the one he really felt like he could talk to the most. Maybe that was another sign of their attachment?

Sango returned his grin, equally eagerly, and shoved his sword aside, pressing her attack. InuYasha countered, looking for an opening, but before he had time to even consider anything of the sort, Sango already was in mid swing for her next attack. InuYasha narrowly managed a counter for that, then another. Sango's speed with her blade was blinding, and he was sure he wouldn't have been able to keep up but for his demon blood. Another counter, another dodge. He quickly backed out of her range, circling slowly. Sango grinned still, poised for attack while circling as well.

Clearly the woman had an amazing attack, but if he could get even one attack in before her, perhaps her defense would be as lousy as his… He leapt, katana at his side, doing a quick thrust which was countered with what appeared to be practiced ease. Before thinking, InuYasha attacked again, though this time to disarm her. He lowered his blade against hers in a quick movement, while also thrusting it to his left, thereby twisting it out of the woman's hand. Sango let out a short yelp, and dropped her weapon. Now, InuYasha grinned, and shook his finger at her. She smirked, circling unarmed away from him, where he stood in front of her blade. She tucked, rolling diagonally towards him, and then away before he had time to attack. He looked at her baffled, thought refused to allow it to show on his face. Once again, she rolled to him, this time when she un-tucked she thrust her leg out in a sweep kick, driving him off balance before he could finish his swing. He tried to get up, but she'd already pinned him down at the shoulders, and grabbed her blade.

She touched his neck with the flat of it, and smirked again. "Admit defeat," she said. InuYasha smiled back. What skill! What tactics, and thought, and energy! Even now, she was positively glowing, still flushed from their spar, breathing heavily above him.

InuYasha paused, his breath getting caught in his throat. …Breathing heavily above him… Her chocolate brown eyes bore down on him, her black hair glowing in the sparse light of the fading sunset. Suddenly he was very sure… Sango must've been someone he cared deeply for before he lost his memories… Because right then, he could almost remember being in love…

He would have leaned up to kiss her, but her blade was at his throat still. Instead, he did the thing that got his meaning across.

"I admit defeat," he said in a choked whisper. At this, Sango smiled so manically, then began giggling. All he could see of her when she straightened to catch her breath was… Oh god, she was _jiggling_…

She stood up, and sheathed her blade, and he did likewise. He'd have to get the crusty mud off his clothing, but that would be hardly any chore. His breathing was still heavy, but he felt satisfied.

"Good bout," said Sango, placing a hand on the small of her back and stretching to work the kinks out. "We may have to do that again some time," she added, putting her other hand forward to shake. InuYasha took her hand, nodding and allowing a smile on his face.

"I'll hold you to that. We're gonna have to, because that's one helluva workout!" he said, laughing. Sango laughed along, just as pleased as he.

Yet another silence between them, though this time it didn't feel as if it needed filling. They had just had a bout of battle, and that was all the communication that was needed for a while. They were both catching their breath, checking their weapons, and doing what needed doing.

"I'm gonna head off for a bath," said Sango after a little while. InuYasha nodded, and smiled.

"Right," he said. "See you, then," said InuYasha, waving her off as she left. He headed back to Kaede's hut, this time not to the medical hut. Drawing aside the flap with one hand, and holding his sheathed sword with the other, he entered the hut to see Miroku, just rousing from his meditation.

"My, InuYasha, you're looking well," said the Monk, his tone hesitant. He looked nervous. Why would he be nervous?

"Yeah," he answered casually. "Just drilled with Sango. I'm beat," she said, laying his weapon against the wall. Miroku smiled kindly. Perhaps a little too kindly.

"How wonderful," he said, though it sounded forced. What the hell what going on? "What kind of drill?" he asked. InuYasha shrugged. He wondered if Miroku was using code that InuYasha didn't remember… That didn't seem likely, but it was possible.

"We sparred. It was refreshing. She won," he said, eyeing the monk suspiciously. Miroku nodded.

InuYasha drew his blade to try and sharpen it, then paused.

"Miroku?" he said.

"Hmm?" asked Miroku, as if distracted.

"Why is my sword all… Mangled? I mean, even if I'm super-strong or anything like that, you'd still think that a sharp, well maintained sword would be more effective," said InuYasha, dubiously. Miroku visibly relaxed, clearly more comfortable on this topic than any other.

"That's the Tetsusaiga, InuYasha," he said, as if that would have some kind of meaning. Miroku plunged on, explaining in more detail. The origeons, or at least how they were explained to him, and the function. InuYasah was astounded to find that he had a magic sword. Despite InuYasha's questions about why his father had left it to him, and asking about his brother, Miroku refused to tell anything more.

"But really, I have a brother? I mean, I'm sure he's worried, shouldn't we--?"

"No, InuYasha, I highly doubt he's worried," said Miroku calmly. "Sesshoumaru is not a nice man."

"But he's my brother! I mean, where is he? Couldn't we just let him know I'm okay--?"

"—That isn't a plan I wish to be a party to. You remeber the dog demon you fought against to collect the Tetsusaiga? The one I told you of? That was your brother. He would have killed you, if you had offered him anything close to a chance," said Miroku. InuYasha's brow wrinkled. That couldn't be right… Maybe his brother was prickly, but… Want to kill him? Even InuYasha knew that wasn't what brothers were supposed to do! He opened his mouth to argue, but when his mouth was open, he heard a scream. Confused, he shut his mouth and whirled around to look out of the door. There were more screams.

In fact, there were several, all going at once, and several villagers tripping over themselves to run away. The mob was so think that InuYasha could hardly stand up right what with all the people bumping into him.

He braced himself against a wall, and looked past the frightened humans passing him. Suddenly his eyes widened as he too in the sight of a giant spider, shooting what he was sure were acids and poisons.

He charged, leaping over villagers as he went, taking to the rooftops rather than the ground, seeing as how there were so many going against him that it was hard to move down there. He drew his sword, the hilt was burning in his hand in a rhythmic beat, almost like a pulse. The sword… It was responding! He felt it, almost like he felt himself. It was like an extention.

He didn't have time to stare in awe, he had a monster to defeat. He leapt from the last roof, leaving the row of buildings and entering the sparse farmlands there the spider was. It's legs were covered in thick hairs, almost like whiskers all over its body. Down in front of the creature, with all eight eyes boring down on her, was Sango. She was in her Taijia uniform, her hair splaying out behind her, still damp from her bath. She heard Sango shout a battle cry of some kind, and send a thrust at the spider's leg. With that, she backed off somewhat, sheathing her sword. It took a few seconds before it was apparent that her hit was good, and bit in deeply. Clear yellow blood oozed out of the wound.

InuYasha quickened his pace from a hurried run to a frantic one. The demon lunged one of its uninjured legs at Sango, who dodged nimbly. She sent her boomerang flying with a cry, and it chipped one of the legs clean off!

InuYasha was finally close enough. He got one surprise attack, and that was it. He had to make use of it. From the way the demon was standing, most of its weight was on three legs, and one of those three happened to be the one nearest InuYasha. Good. He leapt up, heaving his sword down in front of him and biting into the hard, armor-like flesh. The hit was good, and cleaved the leg off nicely. It also sent InuYasha to the ground far enough away from the spider to make a good regroup. The Spider, now send off balance, tipped a good deal. It had only two legs on that side, now, and it was barely able to hold itself up.

He went said, dashing under the monster, and cutting into its abdomen. Sticky yellow blood gushed from the wound, stinging InuYasha's skin, and singeing it as well. The creature stooped over, wailing in pain from his assault. He heard a loud yelp from Sango, followed by a loudly shouted curse, then the sound of the air being cut through by Hiraikotsu.

InuYasha dug Tetsusaiga into the demon again, making a return pass. The blood now was beyond a simple sting. It was _burning_, as if his hands were on fire. He was thankful for his armor to protect the rest of him.

When he came back to the front of the spider, it gazed at him, its own blood seeping into its eight polygon eyes. He looked up, trying to think of what a spider would be weak to, other than a rolled up piece of parchment…

The brain… the brain… something about the brain. _Right_!

He leapt into action, stepping onto the monster's massive head. Under his feet the skin was like a beetle's shell, though sticky. Strings of good trailed him as he ran to the base of its neck.

"Take _this!_" He shouted as he plunged the sword in, cleaving to either side. The head was removed, and he jumped off his falling perch, dashing down to grab Sango out of the way of the head.

Watching the massive thing fall was… strange. It folded up, as if shriveling, then smashed into the ground, all vigor and force, then seemed… Well, _then_ it seemed dead, though one of its legs was still twitching.

He turned to Sango, still catching his breath. "You okay?" he asked. Sango nodded mutely, wincing at her arm, which had a deep gash from the pincher on the creature's mouth. Apparently when it had stooped that time, it wasn't just because he had injured it and it was loosing its footing.

"Oh, god," he said, looking at her arm. "Come on, we gotta clean that up," he said. Sango's face was twisted in pain. She nodded again, clearly not able to speak. He scooped her up, and carried her to the hot spring.

The journey there seemed to take forever, and it was taxing on for of them. Sango's wound no doubt had some of the demon's acidic blood in it, and InuYasha was covered in the stuff.

Sango bit down on her lip, fighting the urge to cry out in pain. The scenery passed by her, her wet hair flying in the wind. Dust and mud was probably getting all over them, and it was too dark for Sango to see. She trusted in InuYasha's night vision, and hoped he still knew how to get there. He'd been to the river to bathe, but not the hot springs since his injury.

But, with no trouble, the arrived that the springs. Apparently he'd remembered it, and that was good.

The little Sango could see of InuYasha's face in the gloom was creased with severe worry. Before Sango could hobble to the edge, InuYasha had already grabbed her hand and dunked it in her for her, quickly rubbing off and out all the demon blood he could. She could see he had some on him, but she could also see that he was more worried for her sake than his.

At some point, InuYasha seemed satisfied with her arm, and stopped scrubbing at it. He wiped his own forehead, which was covered in sweat.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked after a moment. Sango shook her head, but felt that it hadn't been reassuring enough, so then she smiled, and said, "No more than the usual wounds," as warmly as she could. InuYasha smiled, relief oozing off him. Sango took her arm out of the water, and assessed the damage. It was nothing severe, just hurt like hell. It would heal, and hardly leave a scar, she was sure, so long as it was bandaged, and didn't get infected. He glanced at her leg as well, discovering a deep gash there.

InuYasha had washed his hands, and out of his Haori he'd produced bandages. She hadn't known he'd carried them with him. He still had blood on the back of his neck, which was eating its way through his skin slowly, but he motioned for her to lift her arm.

"InuYasha, get that stuff off you!" she said. "I'll bandage my own wounds, or I'll wait. It's not going to get infected that quickly!" she protested.

"It might," said InuYasha firmly. "I'll heal faster than you, and my wounds won't be exposed blood, just tenderness. Look, give me your arm," he commanded.

"Wounds don't just get infected. As long as I stay close, then after you're clean you can bandage it, it'll be fine," she said. InuYasha glared at her.

"Look," he said darkly. "Demonic acids can weaken the immune system and make human more susceptible to infection and disease. Let me bandage your arm and leg, and then I'll stop worrying!" he said. Sango stared at him, open mouthed. How could she not have thought of that? It had been one of her earliest, most important lessons, and she'd forgotten? Her arm snapped up, and InuYasha checked it, making sure it would heal without stitches, rinsed it once to get the excess blood off, then wrapped it tightly to try and stop the bleeding. InuYasha sighed with relief when he was done, and smiled warmly at her, starting on her leg. The wound was on her calf, and she felt strange letting the boy hold her leg as he was. Though she knew that it was simply friendly worry, his touch made her shiver. She hated herself for enjoying it, and she hated even more that her mind seemed to automatically jump to the conclusion that he was purposefully putting in light caresses that didn't need to be there. The way his strong hands brushed against her bare skin when he was wrapping her leg, gently but tightly, was quite suspicious to her. Sango's heart fluttered, and her mind raced despite herself… However, when looking at InuYasha's face, her mind rested at ease, knowing better, seeing that she hadn't seen this expression before. The warm InuYasha. She wondered if Kagome had ever seen this smile.

"There," he said, patting the bandage. "All better." Sango smiled at him in return, a little bewildered. She didn't, however, want to let it show.

"Now get that acid off of you!" she said, purposefully edging her voice with indignant worry. InuYasha smirked slyly, his golden eyes looking mischievous.

"As you wish," he said, moving to rinse the blood off of himself. Sango politely turned around to leave so that he could get into the spring, but InuYasha's hesitant call roused her.

"Um," he'd begun, getting her attention. "Shouldn't you… Uh…" his face now matched the color of his armor with his blush. "I'm not supposed to be left alone, right? I mean, the enemy thing…" he finished in a mumble. Sango's mouth opened to argue against it, but found herself embarrassed, instead, that she'd forgotten her own rule.

"You're right," she said instead. She smiled weakly in a way of thanks as she said, "Glad you remembered," she said. So, rather than leaving, Sango sat just out of sight, with her back turned as InuYasha shed his clothing to submerge himself in the cleansing water of the springs.

"So where did that thing come from?" asked InuYasha from the pool. He heard the small splashes of him washing. She frowned, wondering that herself.

"Well, this area used to be protected by a powerful priestess," said Sango, reluctant to talk about Kikyo. Thankfully, she knew she could steer away from _her_ easily. "It also used to have a jewel here, under her protection. The Shikon, the one we're searching for. The attacks aren't the frequent here, but they're more common than in many places. It's possible that the jewel, in its time here, left a sort of… Residue, I suppose. They sense power, so they slowly migrate toward it," she shouted to him. "And I'm not too sure where it came from, I just know it got here. They often do, so a good deal of our time is spent here, in between shard hunts," she finished.

"Oh," said InuYasha. She could hear him washing his clothes off, wringing them out over the water. Clearly he didn't care to be in there too long. "Why haven't we gone through to clear the forest out?" asked InuYasha. Sango laughed.

"It's not that simple. The forest _has_ been cleared. It was also cleared on a regulars basis before you were—" Sango stopped abruptly. Getting into the explanation of Kikyo pinning him to a tree for fifty years was a little hard for Sango to think about. "That is, when the priestess was still alive, fifty years ago," she said instead. "But then, when she died, a form of corruption came to the land," she said, rather than getting into the details of Naraku's attacks. Hell, in reality the corruption began a bit before she had died, but that wasn't necessary to tell right now. "As I gathered, back then there were no demons roaming the area. What we're hoping is once the corruption of the jewel is wiped away, then Kagome's presence here will purify the lands just as the last priestess's had," finished Sango. InuYasha made no response for some time, mulling over this, she assumed. At some point she wondered if he'd heard her over the small splashes of water. However, his voice came through again, in a slightly muted, fearful tone, as if he was afraid he might discover something unpleasant.

"I knew her, didn't I?" he asked. Sango was at the same time relieved, and agitated to know that he had vague memories of Kikyo. It would have been torture to try and explain what she knew to him, but at the same time, it was a sign he was getting better. Sort of… She wished he remembered something good about Kagome instead, so that he wouldn't have the heavy burden of Kikyo on his shoulders.

"Yes, you knew her," said Sango eventually. Her voice cracked slightly as she did, though she willed herself not to cry for his sake.

Silence ensued after that, which went on for some time, only disturbed by the quiet dripping of water into the spring. Sango knew that speaking again would be like cutting through InuYasha's thoughts with a knife… She dared not try it.

No birds chirped this late at night. The crickets did, though quietly, and not anywhere near the two of them. The darkness lay around them in patches, with small dividers of moonlight where the trees couldn't stop it.

InuYasha snatched up his clothes, and dressed quickly in his gi. The hakama and haori were far wetter than the gi, and seemed to refuse to be wring out, so instead he would hand them to dry through morning, and wear what he had till then.

Stepping around the barrier of trees, he found a rather morose looking Sango, hugging her knees in thought, listening to the silence. She looked up as he neared, and he could see her try to smile, but it didn't work out that well.

"Do you remember her?" asked Sango. "Kikyo, I mean," she supplied. InuYasha's jaw tightened. He didn't, actually. He could gather from her stops and hesitation, though, that it was an uncomfortable topic for her to be on. He shook his head slowly, wincing as one of the tender bits of flesh rubbed against the rough material of his top. Sango shot him a glare, looking at his neck.

"I told you!" she said, seemed to forget about the last topic, which InuYasha was thankful for. He didn't like seeing her so distraught. "I told you that you should have gotten that acid off you sooner! It's eaten right through your skin, and left big holes for _you_ to get an infection," she said, crossing her arms in front of her. She smirked with triumph. InuYasha opened his mouth to protest, and tell her than the likelihood of him getting an infection since he had demon blood was minute, but at her playful expression, he shut it again, and played along.

"It's not that bad, really," he said surely. "I'll be fine." Surely Sango knew that he was nearly immune to the kinds of infection that would be prevented with ointments and bandages. Perhaps this was a sort of game they played before his memory loss? It seemed strange, but it was likely enough that they fought together, and got injured together. It fit as a… Well, how could he think 'coupley game' without thinking a little beyond that? He was sure there relationship wasn't _that_ far…

…

Back in the village, when three or more hours had gone by, a very frustrated, and worried Miroku sat.

He had run as fast as he could against the throng of people pushing and shoving, but even though he had tried, he hadn't made it in time to help kill the spider. He'd _wanted_ to, but he couldn't dance on the edge of a pin, like InuYasha… He couldn't just get onto a rooftop and stay up there, leaping from one to another.

When he'd finally made it to the scene, the creature had been dead for a while, the battle not lasting very long. He didn't know where InuYasha and Sango had gone. At first he'd thought the spider had eaten them, but there were two very long, very convenient slashes all up and down the abdomen, clearly showing that even if it had, they would have been able to get back out.

So he'd waited, assuming they had gone to clean themselves of the acidic blood. And he'd waited more. Gradually, as he'd waited, he had gotten more and more worried. He was at the point where he was considering fronting the exploration of the spider's stomach when Sango returned, leaning on InuYasha for support. He could see the bandages in her, and the ones on InuYasha's neck and sword hand. His silver hair was wet and clean.

"Lady Sango!" said Miroku, more relieved than he allowed himself to show. He grabbed up her hands in his, staring dreamily into her eyes. "It does my heart worlds of good to see that you was uninjured," he said. He also, received a smack on his cheek as punishment for letting his other hand roam…

InuYasha was more than a little confused by this display. Had he been entirely wrong? Were _they_ the ones in the relationship…?

**End Chapter Two**

Here's your customary Author's note that I forgot about last time. This is, as you all know, the second chapter of AOM, and I'm proud to say that I've maintained my 10k per chapter goal! I can't decide yet if I want to keep this as a prequel, or have it split off, but I'm thinking prequel.

Anyhow, I'll get to work on the next chapter of SC, which I'm going through a severe case of revamper's block, or something like that... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this!!


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